After war, a fruitful Long Island life

Second of two-parts.

Walter Schacherl’s search for his relatives after World War II reconnected him with one cousin who survived the camps, but no others.

After his discharge from the British Army, Schacherl, then 27, returned to Palestine, where he had lived with his older brother before the war. Hope for a Jewish homeland marked life there, but so did strife: There were spasms of violence between Arabs and Jews, and British rule was undemocratic and capricious. Despite Schacherl’s status as a British war veteran, he was arrested.

A printer by trade, Schacherl worked for years in the pressroom of the now defunct newspaper Davar, becoming the night foreman. He also resumed taking part in gymnastics, which would keep him energized and fit for decades. Through the sport he met his future wife, Ryfka, also a gymnast.

The daughter of Polish Jews, Ryfka was raised in Dresden, until age 11. That year, 1933, the Nazis took power, and she, her three sisters and parents departed for Palestine. As a young teen, Ryfka began work as a seamstress.

A pivotal moment in Ryfka and Walter’s lives happened on New Year’s Eve in 1946. He invited her to a party at a Tel Aviv coffeehouse.

“I fell asleep with my head in her lap,” Walter recalled 68 years later, sitting beside Ryfka at home in Merrick. “She let me sleep until 1 [am], then said it’s time to go home.”

They dated for three months and then married. Walter wore the only suit that he owned. Unable to afford a honeymoon, Walter and Ryfka went back to work the next day.

Later in 1947 came a day that Zionists, including the Schacherls, had dreamed of for decades. The United Nations General Assembly voted for separate Jewish and Arab states in Palestine, giving the international community’s formal approval for a sovereign Jewish nation.

“We listened on the radio” to the General Assembly vote count, Ryfka said. “It was exhilarating.” The Schacherls were among the thousands who danced all night in the streets.

The couple welcomed a son, Meir, in 1948. In May, Jewish leaders issued Israel’s Declaration of Independence. The next day, five Arab armies launched war on the newborn country.